I Love to See the Temple Family Home Evening

 

Today we are sharing a VERY simple FHE we did last night all about temples!

I was inspired to talk to my kids about the importance of temples since we have the very awesome opportunity of attending the open house for the Payson Utah Temple later this week.  I wanted them to understand the importance and hopefully get really excited for their chance to go inside, see, and mostly FEEL what makes the temple such a beautiful place.

To get started I made this printable to put up in our living room.  If you are new to our blog, I like to make printables every week that focus on our FHE.  Then we can display them and remember all week long what we are focusing on!

I actually made another one too, to put up in my girls room ;)  Feel free to right-click, save to your computer, and print one up of your own!

After we sang I Love to See the Temple, we read from The Friend magazine some quotes from President Monson as he spoke in General Conference last month about temples.  If you don't get your own copy click on the link and it will take you right to it!  The kids loved adding up all the temples, from those already completed, those being restored, to those newly announced.  They were amazed to think that by the time ALL the temples are finished that have been announced we will have 178 temples all around the world!

At this point in FHE my younger kids are always starting to get more than a little antsy so we played a really fun game I found forever ago on Pinterest that I have been planning on using for Singing Time.  I figured out it would work just as well last night, and my kids totally loved it!  And I am SO sorry to whomever first came up with this idea...some of my Pinterest boards got hacked into and I lost lots of pins.  I have tried again and again to find the original source, but I cannot anywhere!  

All you need to play Human Spinner is some sort of office chair that can spin around, like so :)

Then I put up numbers 1-5 all round the room.  Have one of your kids sit in the chair and stick out their legs, the legs being the spinner part ;)  Then let another kid spin them around and see what number their legs are closest too when they stop!

Then have them answer one of these questions about temples that corresponds to the number they landed on!

Since I have young kids these questions were pretty simple, you could change them up, add more, or do anything you think would benefit your family!  The kids LOVED spinning around and answering questions, they wanted to play again and again so we had to keep thinking up more questions ;)

One last thought :)  Our FHE last night went about like they usually do, one kid was crying and got sent to his room, two sisters were fighting and had to be separated, the 2-year old figured this was a great opportunity to destroy the house while we were all in a different room, and mom felt a little defeated when it was all said and done.

BUT!  This morning the kids came down and saw this printable in our living room.

They immediately started talking about how cool it was that we have 178 temples in progress or done around the world!  Then one said they couldn't wait to go inside the Payson Temple.  Then my little guy said he was so happy we were sealed in the temple, and that we were a forever family.

  

I teared up as I felt the Spirit teach, "Don't give up on family home evenings!!"  It is hard.  Lots of times I just want to throw in the towel and put on a movie so I can have a minute of quiet ;)  However, these little tender mercies remind me its all worth it.  We are doing a sacred work as we raise these children, and the Lord will bless us in this work.  I know it.  I feel Him with me as I strive to teach them something, ANYTHING, that might possibly strengthen them on their journey in this life.  Most fhe's aren't going to be Pinterest-worthy...and that is totally fine!  Sometimes the message will click, and sometimes it just won't.  Sometimes no one will get anything out of it...but sometimes someone will.  And if one child receives one answer to a prayer, or gains a testimony of one gospel principal, or has one experience where they KNEW they felt the Spirit...then it is worth it.  

Conflict Resolution Family Home Evening

 Hello everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and great Mother's Day!  Today I quickly wanted to share a FHE I prepared, that we are actually going to be using tonight...so if its a total flop I apologize in advance ;)  

We could not be more excited for summer at our house, however, there is one thing that happens every summer at my house that drives me crazy.  The fighting!!  The kids seem to get bored easier, annoyed quicker, and it drives me crazy!  To try and combat this yearly craziness I thought we could do a family night addressing different ways to resolve conflict.  First up I found some great information on Pinterest, and put it together on a simple printable we are going to hang up permanently in our family study :)

One by one, we will go through the different ways you can resolve conflict.  Some are pretty simple, like ask for help, share, take turns and apologize.  Laugh means to just find humor in the situation and be able to laugh at yourself.  Chance means to either flip a coin or do rock, paper scissors to make a decision.  Avoid means sometimes there are fights that are just not worth fighting, and its ok to just walk away!  Finally, compromise is where you both give up a little, but you also both get something you are happy with.

Then for our activity we are going to talk about different situations that "bug us", and then decide what tool we can use to resolve that conflict.

I made these cute little bugs that we cut out and taped up on our big chalkboard.

On the back of each bug I wrote down a real-life scenario, something my kids have encountered recently.  The kids can then take turns hitting a bug with a fly swatter, and then taking it off the board, reading the scenario, and finally deciding how they can effectively and kindly resolve the conflict.  Some of the scenarios I used were:

My little sister takes my things without asking

My friends want to jump on the tramp, but I want to ride bikes

I do something silly on accident and everyone laughs at me

I lose my temper and say something mean

You get the idea ;)

To finish off the night we are going to read one of our families favorite books, Enemy Pie.  If you haven't heard of it, I totally suggest it!  It is an awesome story about a boy whose dad helps him find a creative way to resolve his conflict with a neighbor boy.  I love that if focuses on kindness, that is what I really want my kids to try and get out of this FHE.  No matter what, there is always a chance for us to be kind!

Johnson Family Theme 2015!

Hello, hello!  I am so happy to finally be getting another blog post up :)  It seems like no matter how good my intentions are, I just cannot seem to find the time to sit down for a few minutes and compose a few scattered thoughts into a blog post.  However, as soon as I do, I remember how much I enjoy this little place of mine to share a few rambling thoughts and pieces of our lives. 

Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to be our Johnson Family Theme of 2015!  (Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?;)

Deciding on a theme turned out to be a really cool experience for my husband and I.  I mentioned that I wanted to pick a theme, and asked him to think and pray about what he thought our family needed this year.  I told him I would do the same, and we went on our separate ways for the day.  That night, before bed, I asked him if he had any ideas that he felt strongly about.  He said that one thing kept coming back to him, that we needed to teach our kids more about SERVICE, and the hymn Because I Have Been Given Much.  The interesting thing was, I had been having similar thoughts, about service but also about different types of giving as well.  I kept having a scripture come to me, where King Lamoni's Father is praying to Heavenly Father in the Book of Mormon and he says "I would give away my sins to know Thee".  From our two thoughts and the guidance of the Spirit we came up with our theme:

 

I just LOVE this theme!  In the short week that we have shared this with our kids we have already seen some great things and small blessing every single day.

 

We introduced our theme on Monday night for Family Home Evening, and did a fun activity to go along with it. 

 

I decided we needed simple ways to help the kids serve in little ways every, single day.  To help them get in that habit, we created a Simple Service Jar! 

 

 

 

All we did was tape this printable around a mason jar and fill it will slips of paper.  On every slip we wrote small, simple acts of service we can do for one another.  They were anything from giving 3 compliments that day to helping mom with the baby while she makes dinner.  Shoveling a neighbors driveway to writing letters to missionaries from our family and ward.  The whole point of this jar to help the kids see that serving can become a way of life, that a little bit of effort on our part can greatly bless the lives of others. 

 

 

I am happy to say we have already pulled 4 or 5 papers out of our service jar when the kids are bored or grumpy, and it really is amazing how doing something kind for someone else can change the attitude and spirit in our home! 

 

Going along with our theme of Giving this year we will be doing monthly service projects and as many other things as I can possibly think of.  Hopefully I will be on top of it enough to share some of those things here ;)  Thank you so much for stopping by and please share: do you do a family theme in your home?  If so...what is your family theme for 2015?!

Building Your Faith Family Home Evening {Alma and Amulek}

Well, here we are, sharing another Family Home Evening idea with you :)

 

This week we were back at our Book of Mormon lessons, focusing on the story of Alma and Amulek and how they used and built their faith to sustain them through their trials and hardships.

 

I made a printable to put up in our home with one of my all-time favorite sayings...

 

 

We spoke about how important it is to be true to yourself and the things you believe in, even when you have hard or scary times in your life.  I told the kids we were going to learn about 2 men who used their faith to stand up for what they believed in, even when it would have been so much easier to turn their backs on that faith.

 

For the bulk of our lesson we just read Alma's Mission to Ammonihah from the Book of Mormon Stories.  Then we spoke about how Alma and Amulek relied on their faith multiple times: going back to teach the people and meeting Amulek, contending with Zeezrom, watching the women and children be burned because of their belief, and finally the walls of the prison falling down and being freed.

 

After our lesson we did an awesome activity that the kids really enjoyed and my husband and I got a kick out of too ;)  We played Build Your Faith Jenga!

 

 

This was a great game to play because it obviously kept the kids attention, but it was so wonderful to hear some experiences from my kids, times they have felt their faith grow, or ways they want to gain more faith.  It is also always a bonus to review the lesson to make sure something actually sank in ;) 

 

After we went several times around the table and each child picked a few blocks and shared different experiences our tower came tumbling down.  We were able then to relate our game to how the walls of the prison came crashing down as Alma and Amulek exercised THEIR faith.  An awesome visual for the kids, and an activity they begged to do again and again :)

 

Thanks so much for checking our fhe out, hope you guys all have a great week!

 



Repentance Family Home Evening {Alma the Younger and Sons of Mosiah Repent}

 

Wow...where did the last 5 months ago?!  Life has just seemed SO busy, but now that 3 of my kids are in school and one is heading to preschool next week, I thought just maybe I could get back into this whole blogging thing ;)  I have missed blogging.  I can't guarantee how regular it will be, or how creative or great the ideas will be, but if you are still around I hope you will find something here of value or that brightens your day!

 

One TERRIBLE habit we got into over the summer was missing our FHE's.  I have felt inspired lately that my family desperately needs me to step it up, and make family home evening a priority for us once again.  With how often I plead with Heavenly Father to help me create more peace in our home and more love between my children, I figured a good start would be to listen the whisperings of the Spirit.  It has been prompting me to get back to the basics...family scripture study, family prayer and family home evenings!

 

With that said, we are continuing our lessons from the Book of Mormon, and this lesson is based on Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah Repent.  You know I love a good printable, so I made this one up with a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott.

 

Once we reviewed the story of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah we talked about the different steps to repentance.  To help the kids remember them a little bit better and reinforce the ideas I made a simple matching game for them to play.  All you need to do is print this sheet out twice and cardstock and you will be good to go!  You could also just print out one sheet and let your kids take turns putting the different steps in the proper order...I just thought of that while I was typing! ;)

 

 

After our game I did a really simple activity that I found on Sugardoodle.  I printed off a picture of Alma that I found HERE.  Then I put the picture in a frame we had lying around and got a few little spray bottles and dry erase markers. 

 

 

We talked about how sin makes us feel...dirty, messy, and not happy.  As we were talking I let the kids go to town scribbling ALL over the picture of Alma.  Once they were done, we talked about how repentance can make us feel.  If we follow the proper steps we can be made clean again.  While we spoke about that I let the kids take turns spraying the picture with water...

 

 

I love object lessons like this because you can see the light go off for your kids...following the steps of repentance CAN make you clean again, just like spraying water on the picture made Alma clean again!

 

 

Overall, it was a simple, fun family home evening that the kids seemed to enjoy, and hopefully even learned something from.  I know beyond a doubt that my kids will face some tough things in their lives, as we all do.  As their mother I hope that they will make good choices, but I also know that they will fall short, as I constantly do.  It is SO important that they understand repentance and about the Atonement, so when situations arrive, they will know all is not lost and they will have the strength and fortitude to find their way back.

 

Thank you SO much for stopping by today.  I have truly missed this little blog of mine and hope to share more with you soon!

Importance of the Sacrament Family Home Evening

 Can you believe a NEW post?! 

Only took me about a month to share something with you again ;)  This has been one crazy winter at our house.  Between day to day stuff for 5 kids, a baby that seems to catch EVERYTHING from RSV to pneumonia, building a new house and a husband that now travels it monthly for work I have been in major survival mode.  With that said, life is GOOD and we did a fun family home evening last night targeting an area that my family certainly needs a little help with :)

Sacrament Meeting...it can be uplifting and edifying, and it can also be downright MISERABLE with little kids.  Lately I have been wanting to help my kids understand the importance of the Sacrament, and focus on ways we can get the most out of the ordinance.  I have especially been wanting to find ways to help my kids truly focus on the Savior during the Sacrament.  It really is such a short period of time, and I do not think it is too much to ask to expect them to be able to show reverence and respect.

To get started we talked about what the Sacrament represents and how we should act during it.  I found a really cute idea at Sugardoodle that my kids really enjoyed.  It is a fun little activity that compares how different children act during the sacrament to different kinds of animals.  

I thought it would be fun to print out each animal and tape them to a craft stick.  Then I let the kids each take turns picking and animal and reading how that animal behaves.  It was obvious which animal was reverent and respectful at church, and it was a great opportunity to talk about some of the animal behaviors that my kids exhibit from time to time that may NOT be so reverent ;)  Click HERE for the story at Sugardoodle and feel free to print out the animal printables above!

Then to end the night I gave the kids some simple notebooks I had put together earlier in the day.  We call them our Promise to Remember Books!

These are simply books for the kids to use ONLY during the Sacrament.  They were quick and simple to make and the kids LOVED them.

To get started I found these adorable notebooks at Target in the Dollar Spot.

Then glued a picture of the Savior on to the front and attached a big paper clip and a gel pen (both from the Dollar Spot too!)

On the inside I stuck 10 different cards with pictures of the Savior in the paper clip.

My hopes for these books is that my older kids will look at the pictures of the Savior and write down some ways they will strive in the upcoming week to remember Him, and the promises they have made to Him.  For the younger kids they can look at the pictures of Jesus and draw things they can do to follow His example.

Such a simple thing, but the kids were so excited to have their own books and now cannot wait for the next Sacrament Meeting ;)

I hope this gave you some ideas for helping your kids during the sacrament, and please...feel free to share!!  What successes have you had with your young children?!  Seriously, I need the help ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Respect Family Home Evening

Happy New Year everyone!!  I hope you and your families have had a good 2014 so far...and what better way to start off the new year than with a fun family home evening teaching a GREAT principle?! ;)

I previously posted this over at the amazing blog Or So She Says... but I wanted to share it here today in case any of you missed it.  I have been wanting to come up with a fun and interesting way to teach my kids about respect for a while now and I was really excited about how this fhe turned out.

To get started I had to think...what does respect mean to me and what do I want it to mean to my children?

I came up with this printable that will hang in our home throughout the week as a great reminder of some of the ways we can show respect in our lives.  I just took each letter of the word RESPECT and came up with key words to use as gentle reminders for all of us :)

We went through letter by letter, and discussed ways we can be more respectful in our lives. After that it was time for the FUN!  First things first...we needed some theme music.  And there is only one obvious choice...blasting a little Aretha Franklin ;)  As we listened to that great classic, I got out all the supplies we needed to make our very own... R-E-S-P-E-C-T Sock it to me Sock Puppets!

To make our puppets we just got a bunch of old white socks and all the random art supplies we could find!  Things like googly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, feathers and stickers.

Once you have all your supplies get your glue gun ready and let your kids imaginations go wild!

Now that you have your Sock it to me Sock Puppets ready to go, its time to let your kids really get involved and understand RESPECT in real-life situations.

My kids loved acting out different scenarios where they showed respect for others property, responded to others in a respectful way, and obeyed mom and dad.  I think they got a kick out of acting out what-NOT-to-do scenarios too ;)  This is a great way to apply the lessons you just taught to your children, and show them how they can be used in their day-to-day lives.

Next week we will be back with another FHE, picking up where we left off in the Book of Mormon.  Yes...we were supposed to finish that in one year, but it is better late than never right?!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

Bearing Each Other's Burdens {Alma Baptizes} Family Home Evening

 I cannot believe how long it has been since I have posted a family home evening!  

Slacker :)

I have a few to share, but I thought I would start with the one we did this last Monday.  It was very simple and provided a great visual for my kids to refer back to.

We continued our lessons from the Book of Mormon by learning all about Alma baptizing at the waters of Mormon.  We started off by looking at this printable I made with the lyrics from one of my favorite Primary songs.

We read from our Book of Mormon Stories all about Alma and the Nephites he baptized.  We talked about how when we are baptized we are clean, and we reminded the kids about the covenants we make at baptism.  I told them that for that night we were going to focus on the promise we make to bear one another's burdens and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.

To get started, we had to learn all about what BURDENS even are.  After I explained to my kids that burdens can be trials, sad moments in our lives, or hard things we deal with we talked about what it meant to BEAR one another's burdens.  My wonderful sister in law Cara shared a great idea she used to teach her kids about chores and sharing household responsibilities that I thought could be adapted perfectly to suit our needs.

To get started I grabbed a bunch of cans out of my pantry and then covered them with construction paper.  Then I wrote different burdens that we may already face, or may face someday.  Some that I did were:

Feeling lonely

Losing a loved one

Wondering if Heavenly Father really loves me

Feeling guilty about mistakes I make

Fighting with your mom and dad

Being teased at school

Feeling like I'm not good enough

Once I had all our cans ready I had the kids take turns.  Skylar started by holding an empty green bucket.  One by one we read what the cans said and placed each one in the bucket.  You could see her struggle a little more with each can we put in.  I talked about how sometimes in life this is how we feel...completely weighed down and overwhelmed with different burdens we face.  Finally when we had them all in I told her she needed to walk up and down the stairs.  The poor girl got upset and said there was NO way she could do that...she could hardly hold it standing totally still!

At this point we were able to show the kids...THIS is how important it is to bear one anothers burdens!  One by one the rest of us took turns taking a can at a time out of Skylar's basket.  As we took out each can we said a way we could ease that burden, maybe by praying, being a good friend, or serving.  By the time we had each taken 2 or 3 we all had helped ease her burdens and she was able to easily run up and down the stairs with just a few cans in her bucket.

I couldn't help but cry as I watched my kids rush to ease one anothers burdens.  I bore testimony of trials I have faced, and how others around me have served me and made those burdens seem bearable.  We have a sacred responsibility to keep our baptismal covenants...and there is no better way to do that than by bearing one another's burdens, especially those of our own family!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and reading.  It means so much that so many of you take the time to do that :)  Have a fantastic day!!

King Benjamin Family Home Evening {Following the Prophet}

 Hello everybody!!

It took me a few months, but we finally got back to our scheduled FHE's, picking up where we left off in the Book of Mormon.  This week we learned all about King Benjamin and the things he taught his people.  We also used it as an opportunity to review one of my favorite talks from General Conference, and encourage the our family to strive harder to follow the prophet.

We started off with this fun printable I threw together.

Haha!  I know, the Keep Calm signs are totally overdone...but I still thought it was cute :)

Then we read the story of King Benjamin from the Book of Mormon Stories.  We really tried to focus on some of the specific things King Benjamin taught his people, like teaching them of the coming of the Savior, teaching the parents to help their children learn to be obedient and to not argue, and teaching them to serve.  We spent a few minutes talking about how as the people listened, they felt the Holy Ghost in their hearts confirming the truthfulness of these teachings.  Because of that feeling...they NO longer wanted to sin!  We talked about how we should be striving to feel that way, not only NOT sinning....but losing all desire to as well.

Then we talked about how back then, the families had to come all the way to King Benjamins tower to hear him speak and teach.  They came in their tents and turned them toward the King.  I told the kids we were going to be as the Nephites...and turn our tent toward one of our modern day prophets, and hear what we needed to be taught.

I think its time for a new/bigger tent! ;)

The kids all piled in and we pulled up Elder Scott's talk from the last General Conference.  It is entitled For Peace at Home...and it was one of my favorites!  I loved how he spoke to the children, and listed specific things we need to be doing to have a Christ-centered home...the true way to have peace.

After a long day of fighting, grumpiness and exhaustion from ALL of us, I am always searching for ways to have just a little bit more peace :)

After the talk we discussed how important it is to follow the prophets.  And the only way you can follow what they say...is if you KNOW what they have taught.  We talked about the importance of gaining a testimony of the prophet...and once you have it, to sustain him not ONLY with your hand...but with your actions as well.

Honestly, this was one of our tougher family nights.  The baby was screaming, the two-year old thought it was hilarious to run and jump on the outside of the tent squishing everyone inside, and the 8 year old was crying about her sunburn :)  

BUT!

The next morning the kids were fighting and Britton said..."Don't you remember what we learned last night?!  We aren't supposed to fight...the prophet said!" :)  So maybe, just MAYBE, its sort of working a little bit somehow :)

Power of Prayer Family Home Evening {The Prophet Enos}

Tonight's Family Home Evening was short and sweet...but so important!  

Tonight we talked with our children about the power and importance of prayer, teaching them the story of the Prophet Enos and what he teaches us about prayer.  We read about him from the Book of Mormon Stories and then discussed one of my favorite newly-discovered quotes (you know I had to make a printable!;)

This quote from Corrie Ten Boom has really impacted me lately, and the way I pray.  I explained to my kids what a steering wheel is for, and what a spare tire is for.  I asked them whether we pray to our Heavenly Father ALL the time, so we can have his guidance in our lives, when things are good AND bad...or do we only pray to Him when we need something, like when we would use a spare tire.  That thought has hit me lately as well...am I trusting Heavenly Father to lead and guide my life...or do I forget about Him and praying to Him until I am in a moment of need?

We talked about how important it is to remember to pray not only when things are tough...but also when things are GOOD!!  We also talked about how our prayers need to be meaningful...not just the same repeated prayers over and over.  To help with that I thought it would be fun to have the kids list a few things that they want to thank Heavenly Father for, or things that they feel they need to ask Him for.

 

I found these buckets I had in my basement and filled them with rice.  Then I got out some chalk and these fun little chalkboards on sticks and we took turns listing things we want to be better about including in our prayers.

Once we came up with our items we put our buckets up on our mantle so we can remember throughout the week to try and make our prayers more meaningful and more full of gratitude.

We closed by each sharing an experience where we KNEW and FELT that Heavenly Father had heard our prayers and answered them.  It was so wonderful to hear my children's sweet and tender experiences with prayer already, and it encouraged me to be more vigilant and genuine in my own personal prayers.  I say it often, but I feel like these kids are teaching me so much more than I could ever teach them!