I believe in Family Home Evening (FHE).
Family Home Evening is a night when your family stays home together and has a little meeting. We do it on Sundays or Mondays.
It is very important to have a chart that tells each member of the family what their job of FHE is. The chart does not need to be fancy. See ours below.
It is very important to have a chart that tells each member of the family what their job of FHE is. The chart does not need to be fancy. See ours below.
One person conducts. Tonight it was Macey. She says, "welcome to family home evening" and then tells us what everyone will be doing for their FHE job.
Logan was in charge of leading the song.
Dave was in charge of the lesson.
The children were in charge of listening to the lesson.
When you have little kids, the lessons should be short and sweet. Just a little bible story or something like that. It is hard for them to sit still for too long. See pictures below.
When you have little kids, the lessons should be short and sweet. Just a little bible story or something like that. It is hard for them to sit still for too long. See pictures below.
There are always lots of interruptions and random comments from the kids. That's the best part. Tonight we were talking about Daniel in the Lion's Den and Macey raised her hand. Dave called on her. She said, "if you need some money, but you don't really have any of your own money, then you should probably just ask your parents if you can have some of theirs." Hmmm. Interesting point that had absolutely nothing to do with the lesson. Looking back, I do think someone had said the word "tithing" at some point... maybe that got her on the money subject.
One more comment from Macey that I must share. We were talking about prayer (how Daniel prayed in the Lion's Den). Dave asked the kids why we should pray. Macey said, "if you don't pray then Heavenly Father will make you die and you'll never see your family again." Logan burst out laughing and Dave and I couldn't hold it in very well either. A bit disturbing wouldn't you say? Apparently, she's extremely confused. We explained that that was totally not right and hopefully she gets it now.
Anyway, the random comments and questions from the kids are my favorite part and often lead to gospel discussions and teaching moments. So, don't go too crazy on preparing a lesson... something good comes from whatever you do.
One more comment from Macey that I must share. We were talking about prayer (how Daniel prayed in the Lion's Den). Dave asked the kids why we should pray. Macey said, "if you don't pray then Heavenly Father will make you die and you'll never see your family again." Logan burst out laughing and Dave and I couldn't hold it in very well either. A bit disturbing wouldn't you say? Apparently, she's extremely confused. We explained that that was totally not right and hopefully she gets it now.
Anyway, the random comments and questions from the kids are my favorite part and often lead to gospel discussions and teaching moments. So, don't go too crazy on preparing a lesson... something good comes from whatever you do.
After the lesson, we move on to the kids favorite part.
The games!
Our FHE game portion of the night usually includes one of the following games:
Duck Duck Goose
Mother May I
Red Light, Green light,
Hide and Go Seek
London Bridges
Ring Around the Rosie
OR, my favorite :Dead man, Dead man.
Tonight we played Duck Duck Goose.
Dave knee'd me in the back when he was running around our very small circle. He was probably dizzy. It hurt.
Dave knee'd me in the back when he was running around our very small circle. He was probably dizzy. It hurt.
When the kids are the "ducker" they go around the circle, like, 30 times. It gets old. But I figure, it's once a week- I can handle it!
Usually, the games turn into a sort of wrestling match while I prepare the treat.
Tonight Lexi helped with the treat and put sprinkles on everyone's ice cream.
Then we ate it.
And that's the end of our FHE!
It really isn't that special but I know it makes a difference in our family so I love doing it (most of the time). I think it makes us more unified as a family, and gives us an opportunity to talk about important "life" topics. Don't get me wrong... it isn't always all fun and games. Sometimes there are fights and time-outs and even some parental yelling. But, when it's good, it's good and that's why we keep trying.
Now, please share what you do for FHE with your family.
It really isn't that special but I know it makes a difference in our family so I love doing it (most of the time). I think it makes us more unified as a family, and gives us an opportunity to talk about important "life" topics. Don't get me wrong... it isn't always all fun and games. Sometimes there are fights and time-outs and even some parental yelling. But, when it's good, it's good and that's why we keep trying.
Now, please share what you do for FHE with your family.
42 comments:
We do nothing. I don't think my kids are old enough for it yet. I guess Maddie is. So maybe we should do FHE.
Your kids are adorable! Love Macey's funny little comments!
At the beginning of FHE we talk about our weekly calendar of events, then we give each person "the floor" to talk about anythig that is on their mind, anything exciting, anything bad, etc. It works out great and the kids love having their own minute or two to talk...
until everything goes down hill and someone gets sent to their room.
I liked the "finger in the belly button photo" best! We do "gold stars" each week. That is where Dad or Mom points out one good thing they noticed that each kid did during the week. This started as just a good idea to try. The kids won't let us have FHE without it. Sometimes FHE is only calendar, gold stars, short thought, prayer and treat but ALWAYS "gold stars".I believe in FHE too!:)
FHE is great! Ella and Abram love leading the music and playing the games. Sometimes when it's too late we have Family Home Morning the next day because everyone is a bit more happier and well rested. We keep it short and sweet too.
P.S. macey is so funny!
D-Dawg, for some reason I can't figure out, my bloglines is not alerting me to your new posts! Has anyone else had this problem? I am so glad I came over and discovered all these fabulous posts. I love the pictures of the kids listening--those are classic and will be great to look back at. Your chair is darling too! I love bright fabric!
Dave kneed you in the back because his knees are probably big like his elbows. They go together. Good job in FHE. We went to Toys R Us to spend Sol's gift card and ended up spending a lot more than $15. It a disease.
Great post! Our FHE are not much different then yours....I love it!
I know our kids will remember those moments forever!
The simpler, the better.
We love our Monday nights.
Thanks for the great post on FHE Denae!
My kids love FHE, we don't have the cute chart with who does what, Trent doesn't like them. And my kids love the games part, but we do like 3 likes. London Bridges, ring around the roses and some game that Trent made up called Burrito. That one is my kids favorite.
I loved it!
We have some issues with people attacking each other in hopes to wrestle....DURING the lesson.
I loved the Macey comments because those make FHE so fun for me around here.
You have a beautiful family :)
I loved how you said, "The children are in charge of listening to the lesson". Perhaps, I should put that as a section on my FHE chart, "Listening to the Lesson" and put all 3 of their names on it.
I'm thinking your kids had sharing time on the brain from yesterday since the topic was tithing.
Smart ones you got there!
I too love the FHE-
My friend duckduckcow.blogspot Jessica posts what she does every week. Its so fun!
I' was glad you admitted to the fighting and yelling. I thought we might be the only ones! I hate it when it gets to that point. Games are definately the favorite part. Hide n seek is the favorite game. In the the house, of course. I bought a great little book, with short lessons and easy for any of the kids to use. I'll try to post about it soon :) or email me and I'll tell you what it is!
My kids favorite game is "pillows" which is a pillow fight with all the couch pillows. I bonked one of my kids with a pillow one time because he was crying or something and now it is a mandatory part of our night.
you know why i like you? because you don't get discouraged easily. or if you do, you lie about it convincingly on your blog.
i have to do FHE in three week intervals, because one week of fighting gets me so discouraged, i can't stand to even try it again for another 3.
but you seem to act like it's not the end of the world. is it not? perhaps i should look into that angle of it.
FHE is great. For Christmas, I had asked for the gospel art kit (you know the one with all the pictures and stories) and my mother in law gave it to me, so for now, we sit on the couch and let Haley hold each of the pictures while we tell her about them. She loves it and feels very much like a big kid because she gets to hold it. We also are into singing songs (Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam and Do as I'm Doing) and of course the treat at the end. After she goes to bed, Jared and I discuss something a little more in depth, or try to anyway! I love Macey's comments! What a hoot! Sounds like you guys have great FHE's!!! Thanks for sharing!
Last night's FHE included me blogging with my sons watching.
That counts, right?
Dan was out of town; we gotta do something when he gets back.
We have a little notebook and each person tells us something about their week. What they did, said, etc. Then we write it down. That used to be our entire FHE when Conner was little. It ended up mostly being about "firsts" for Conner. But there are a few treasures about Steve and I too.
We need to get back to it. It made a great family journal.
Oh, and now, we spend a ton of time at the piano. Everyone gets to chose at least one song. And Steve and Conner race to see who can choose theirs first.
Last night, we discovered a fabulous tool...the church music website. I was nursing and so I couldn't play the piano so we just looked up all our songs. It plays just the accompaniment or acc/vocals...you can change the key or the tempo. It was so great!
Good post. we are big believers of FHE at our house and lucky for me, Steve was great at keeping us at it even before Conner was big enough to appreciate it.
I am loving your "I believe" series. This is great. I am not good about doing FHE (even though I have a cute board, and a good book of lessons), but you have inspired me to be better. And, I think that I have been trying to hard with my lessons. I need to KISS (Keep it simple, silly.) Thanks!
When the kids were really little and gas was cheap, we used to have FHE in the car. We had a captive audience.
My kids are finally old enough now that we have progressed to a whole evening instead of a Family Home Moment.
Our are much like yours but we have a reading of the weekly schedule so everyone knows what is going on.
I believe too.
great job on the chair..that looks great! i was laughing so hard at what macey said! kids..they say the funniest things!
We yell, too. A great way to invite the spirit...
Too cute! I love it...all the pictures are awesome. Your family is so stinkin' cute. I would love to have FHE with you guys.
We don't do a ton...we just try and teach Tanner the prophet's name (that has been the lesson for the last 3 weeks) and play games and just have fun. We played baseball the week before...FHE rocks!
wonderful post! michael is usually the instigator for the FHE's, but we have a good track record so far. it is an inspired idea! logan needs to come teach my kids how to lead music:)
I like how you said your chart wasn't fancy, when it is fancier than mine since I don't have one. I had one, but now I don't know where it went.
Perhaps a lesson on stealing or prayer next week?
Did you see my post, back in September on our double FHEs. We do better when we have a lesson on Sunday and do an activity on Monday (then we aren't looking at 2 hours either night, you know? And if we aim for 2, we usually get one each week!)
We have been trying to do FHE every monday and it is happening but Berkley just cruises around the house like a crazy person.. I can't wait until my kids get a little older. It will be so fun to play games! We LOVE games!!! Also, for them to hear a nice lesson.
That was awesome play by play I love FHE the kids come up with the greatest things! You are the best mom!!
Our FHE's consist of singing (our kids also lead and conduct), praying, singing a silly song, short lesson (while at least one boy rolls around on the floor), calendar, activity, and the most important is TREAT! I used to put a ton of time into the lesson and then i'd get so mad when they didn't listen which totally negated all of my effort because no one was happy. Now I do a simple lesson from the Friend or we just talk about something (last night it was practicing phone manners) that our family needs. I believe in FHE too. I really think its the little things that lead to family unity and togetherness. I had a stake pres. say once that it's one sunday at a time, one family prayer at a time, one FHE at a time is how they learn and if one doesn't go so well just go on to the next one.
We have a pretty good track record for FHE, but my kids are totally ripped off. We do it right before bedtime, so no treats, no games. I think I need to change that!
Sorry about the multiple posts, blogger was acting funny so i just kept pushing post comment.
Looks like Logan takes his job VERY seriously! I like your "I Believe" series!
Oh, sorry, it is me LIndsey... I am at my parent's house in Utah, and I am leaving Glenn comments EVERYWHERE!!! I just noticed!
I love how your pictures tell the story! They are "real" too...not posed!
Thanks for this post! We are not very good at FHE. So far I've been a little discouraged with it because I don't think Macie really understands, and always looks bored. I'm going to reform! Thanks for posting things that are funny, but also real.
I love Macey's comments. I love how kids minds will catch on one thing, and then 20 minutes later, they finally figure out what they want to say about it (while the rest of us have no idea where the original thought started).
Macey's comments are the best. Its funny what kids pick up and then get mixed up. The other day Conner was teasing Clayton and Clayton said, Stop being mean or you'll have to go live with the devil. hmm... I love the "attention span" pictures. Our FHEs consist of a lot of songs, a short lesson, a game that always ends up in wrestling too and then the much anticipated treat.
I am so glad you listed out all the games you play. I'm going to write them down as a reference. We have a FHE chart, but I always hope that the boys forget about it because I don't want to play games or have treats. But your games are fun and simple so I'll have to use those as our games.
After reading your post about the dance party your kids put on, I have been wanting my boys to develop a sense of rhythm and movement and fun silliness, so we are having a dance party at the end of FHE. Each week someone is in charge of choosing a dance song and we all dance for that one song. It wears them out for bed, too. Every week so far the song has been "Bet On It". :)
This post really made me laugh Denae. FHE is chaos for us most of the time--but the important thing is to do it. And have fun. We love to play hide and seek for the activity.
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