FHE Two Weeks In A Row!!

We did it. We had Family Home Evening...two weeks in a row. I know how important it is to teach our kids about God and Jesus and the gospel and honesty and manners and all that stuff. It's just hard to formally sit and have a lesson, but so rewarding when we do. We are totally hit and miss with our Family Home Evening schedule but we had a lesson last Monday night and again this week. The kids love it when the grown ups can get it together enough to do it. You know the worst part? I've spent hundreds of hours pre-making lesson kits with fun, colorful games, pictures, stories, scriptures, puppets and other things. All I have to do is take about five minutes to pre-read my pre-made lesson plans and then present them. It couldn't be any easier! Ben loves to look in the FHE box and pick a lesson out, of course based on the coolest looking game, not by topic as they are organized, but oh well. Sometimes we really need a lesson on Honesty and why we shouldn't lie to mom and dad but we do the one with the turtle story (Procrastination) instead. Still they just eat it up and love that they have Brian and my undivided attention for 30 minutes to just have good, clean family fun. They haven't seemed to realize yet we're teaching them. They just enjoy the moment. This week, they picked the lesson with the Tortise and the Hare story. We had fun with the pictures and they got to hold the pictures while they acted out the story as I retold it. Ben was the turtle and Maddie was the bunny wabbit. After our song, prayer and quick lesson the kids were wildly excited. Brian had a great idea about how to get all those wiggles out before we headed up the stairs to get pajamas on and brush teeth. He had the kids do some relay races like the tortise and the hare had a race. They ran from one end of the room to the other, around chairs and back, did wheelbarrel races, horse rides and other silly things. Ben and Maddie Mae had a blast! There was so much giggling! It was so fun for them and for us.

Looking at these pictures and thinking through how easy and fun FHE was, I don't know why I don't try harder. Such little things can mean so much to the kids and nothing can replace a parent being involved in their kids lives.