Foundation of Faith

I posted a year ago about displaying pictures of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve during General Conference. As April's General Conference ended, my husband and I decided that we didn't want this to be a twice a year event. We decided to teach our kids FHE lessons based on General Conference talks during the next six months and pull out the picture of the speaker to help them remember their faces.

My kids are 4 and 2.5, so this is pretty basic, but I covered President Eyring's talk (Mountains to Climb) last week. I focused on having a foundation of faith. First we discussed what a foundation is. I used some blocks to build first an unstable and then a stable foundation under their playhouse. Then we looked at each of the blocks in the foundation and gave ideas for what they could represent: personal prayer, family prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, memorizing Articles of Faith, sharing, forgiving, etc. As we named them, we used them to build a foundation and then put the house on it to see how stable it was.

Foundation of Faith

Families are Important

Cousins with their Grandpa

My husband and I both have big families and many of them don't live nearby so our children rarely see them and have a hard time remembering them. I decided to make a picture album with a picture of each family.

After I made this album we showed it to our children for FHE and emphasized the importance of our families. We talked about how important it is to help each other out and pray for each other (among other things). We talked about how we are sealed together as a family and can be together always. We then went through the photo album and looked at each family and named everyone off. We tried to talk about past experiences with certain cousins and/or aunts and uncles so that our children would better recognize and remember them.

We now keep the photo album in our living room for our children to look at. We look at it on occasion and go over everyone with our children. Our kids have a lot of fun looking at it. We also try to send home made birthday cards to family members when it is their birthday. When doing this we refer to our photo album so my kids have a better understanding of who they are making the card for.

Song Ideas: A Happy Family, Families can Be Together Forever

Families are Important

I am thankful for the earth

For FHE a couple months ago my family decided to go up the canyon to take a look at nature. We brought dinner and had a picnic and then after dinner went on a hike. 

During the hike we talked about all the beautiful things we saw and how Heavenly Father made everything on the earth. We emphasized how we need to try to be thankful for everything he has given us. We had our three year old point out all the things he could see in nature. He got really into it and was super excited as he walked by and pointed out every tree and rock and bush. We had him try to figure out what his favorite thing in nature was. It also started to rain which was another learning opportunity for our kids. Being in Utah, it was raining and sunny at the same time...

Just the other day we did something similar to this but went to cascade springs and walked around. We once again talked about all the beautiful things in nature and how heavenly father made them for us. We encouraged our children to be thankful for all these things. Since the leaves were changing colors, we also gave a little lesson on the season fall.

Hiking with young children is very possible. We do it all the time, lasting several hours sometimes. All you need is a good  baby/toddler carrier and you are set!

I am thankful for the earth

Quick and Simple Lesson Ideas

Sometimes the simplest lessons are the best...and the easiest when preparation time is tight!

• If you teach church, teach your children the same lesson on Monday that you taught on Sunday. If you are a primary teacher you might not need to make any adjustments to the lesson!
• Choose an article of faith to talk about and possibly memorize. You can also do a discussion of the articles of faith as a whole.
• Choose one of the commandments to talk about and memorize. You can also do a discussion of the commandments as a whole.
• Pick a favorite church song and talk about the words in it or learn a new church song that you can discuss as you learn it.

Quick and Simple Lesson Ideas

Being Honest

Something we’ve had to deal with in our home lately is honesty. We are trying to teach our 4yr-old the importance of telling the truth. So, we did this honesty family Home Evening the other night. I felt it was really important to stress that not only would she get in trouble by mom and dad if she lied, but that lie would make Hevenly Father very sad because He has asked us to be honest in all that we do. April’s issue of The Friend had some great resources for this lesson.

Read the story Niya's Choice from the April 2011 Friend.

Talk about the choice Niya had to make. What would have happened if Niya made the wrong choice? What happened because she was honest?

Give your children the Honesty Quiz from the same Friend.

Songs:
 I Believe in Being Honest - CSB#149
The Commandments - #112

Being Honest

Because I have Been Given Much

Opening Song: Hymn #219: Because I Have been Given Much

Scripture: Mosiah 2:17  And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

It is important for children to not only learn about service while they are young, but to actively take part in serving. Whether it be others in your immediate family, a neighbor, friend, relative or even a complete stranger, it is vital to their understanding it's importance. There are many ways you can encourage service. Here is one example we are working on currently in our little family.

In our neighborhood there is a family who is expecting their first child within a couple weeks. They are not currently active in the church. The husband has been out of work for at least two years, maybe longer. They have very little, especially considering the needs of a new baby.

As luck would have it, they are expecting a baby girl. We have two girls and have been blessed with much in way of clothing for our children. So, although we may not be able to help this family out monetarily we can give them some of our childrens clothing. For our FHE activity we went through our overflowing boxes and put together a couple large bags full of clothing. Although we have never met this couple, it gives us great joy and satisfaction know we can serve them. It is wonderful to be able to include our children in this service and to see how willing they are to give to those in need.

Because I have Been Given Much

Scriptures Stories

This is an idea my husband picked up from our Ward Conference back in February. This is seriously one of the best ways we have found to really teach the scripture story for Family Home Evening. Our kids are currently 5, 4, and 2.

You get a large sheet of paper and cover your table with it. My husband got this at a local copy shop. 

You then gather around the table and everyone has crayons. You choose a scripture story or scripture figure to talk about. My husband went with Nephi. 

My husband just started drawing a scene from one of his favorite stories of Nephi from the Book of Mormon. As he did so, he asked our oldest what he liked about Nephi. Our son's favorite is Nephi building a boat, so he drew a boat. The picture below is in the middle of the lesson; there are a lot of things to draw about Nephi. 

This was great. Kids listen while coloring. It gives you the chance to talk about the stories and the great things you learn from the stories, and it is all in a very casual way--it didn't feel forced at all. It gives kids a visual, and it also connects the learning with physical movement, which helps solidify learning.

I can see this being done for various holidays and celebrations. Maybe for the days leading up to the Ressurrection. Maybe during July as you talk about the Pioneers. Perhaps around Christmas and talking about Christ's life. 

This one is definitely a keeper!

Scriptures Stories

Easter Week

The April 2011 Friend has a wonderful way to learn about what Jesus did during the 8 days leading up to Easter. You could read this all at once, or you could read them the 8 days leading up to Easter. To find it, go here.

Easter Week

Everyday is April Fools to Satan

Today is April Fool's Day... I am sure every kid knows about april fools and tries to come up with the best prank. I found this cute idea from pettiskirtsandmudpies blog and thought it was so clever! So, I'll share it with you.

FHE lesson....Satan is deceiving....

I was laying in bed thinking about April Fool's Day....which I love...
and I thought of a perfect Family Home Evening Lesson to go along with all the April Fool's pranks!

I started off with sponges....from the dollar store...and I cut circles...
I have to admit, my circles where far from perfect...but the kids did not notice!

I stacked them three high...and hot glued them so they would hold together.

I bought some gum, and wrapped it to look like a little purse, and wrote on the back...."Chews the right!"

I started the lesson off with a pack of gum that I had emptied, and replaced with white card stock, that had scripture references on them.

I asked them to take a piece of gum and pass it around!
They were so excited to be getting gum right in the beginning of FHE...

I was happy to see, that they were equally excited to have scripture references to look up! =)

We read 10 scriptures about how Satan wants to deceive us and lead us away from Christ!

They thought my false pack of gum was the punch line....so they were NOT prepared for my delicious looking mini layered cakes!

I also made cupcakes which I offered them. I tried to encourage them to take a cupcake, they know I make good cupcakes...but I have never made these mini cakes!
They could not resist the mini cakes!

They took their butter knifes and started to cut!

Brooke, being the oldest, and strongest, decided to take over the cutting!

OH! They were so excited to reach blue cake....they couldn't believe it...but they needed a sharper knife!

Chelsea could not wait any longer, she took her fork and dug in...taking a big chunk of sponge along with her butter cream frosting!

"YUCK!!!!"
"We've been tricked!!"

They understood perfectly what I was trying to teach them.
Satan will try to tempt us by creating a picture of joy...fun...excitement...and make the ways of Christ seem boring...ordinary...and plain!
We must be close to the spirit to recognize and avoid his cunning ways!

The truth of Satan's path is that once your in, you realize You've been tricked!!!

I ended the evening with the gum handouts...

****************************

Isn't that a cute idea? I love it. Happy April Fools Day! Don't get tricked!

Everyday is April Fools to Satan

Friendship

My daughter is just getting into that age where I will find her speaking not-so-nice to her friends sometimes. I know from here, it only gets worse (especially with girls!). So, I thought it would be good to have a lesson on friends and how important and special they are but also how we should treat them.


Make a heart (perfect for Valentine’s Day!) with either the word FRIENDSHIP or a picture of friends on it. Underneath write the scripture: “A friend loveth at all times.” Proverbs 17:17. Attach 4 or 5 strings around the heart. On a corkboard (or something similar) use thumbtacks or tape to attach the strings and hang the heart up (don’t attach the heart itself).

Sing “Love one Another”

Ask the children who some of their friends are. Tell who some of yours are too. Ask them questions like what fun things do they do together, why they like them, ect. Ask them how they feel if their friends are mean to them. Explain that friendship is a great blessing Heavenly Father has given us and we need to treat it that way. Just like we don’t like when our friends are mean to us, we need to remember to act nice to them as well.

Activity: draw attention to the heart and strings. Explain that you are going to tell them some stories about different friends. (I have a few, but come up with some of your own that may be specific to your child)

1. Susan and Anna are playing together. Anna starts making fun of Susan. They start calling each other names and their friendship is broken. (Cut one of the strings)

2. Jimmy pushed Alan because he wanted to go first. The first push led to another and soon Alan and Jimmy were hitting and hurting each other. Another friendship is broken. (cut another string)

3. Milly had a bad of candy but wouldn’t share with Justin at all. After a bug argument over sharing and selfishness, Justin went home. Their friendship is hurt. (cut another string)

Continue sharing stories till only one string is left. Tell the kids that when we do mean and selfish things, we can lose or ruin friendships.
Discuss what things we can do to strengthen friendships and make them stronger. I wanted to teach my kids that they need to try and always be the person that will stand up for other people and be nice to everyone. Read the scripture on the heart and remind them that how we act towards others shows them how we feel about them.

Friendship

I am a Child of God

my four year old knows we pray to Heavenly Father and that we want to make Him happy, but I wanted to have a lesson where we really taught her that He is our Father. Literally. So, we came up with this lesson.


Prep

Get pictures of baby animals and their animal parents for matching.
On a board or the wall put up the baby animal pictures, save the parent ones.

Start by singing “I am a Child of God”

Activity
Tell children that all babies will grow up to be like their parents. Hold up each “parent animal” picture and ask them to match it with the baby. Just like a foal will grow up to look like a horse (or elephant, puppy, kitten), kids will grow up to be as tall and know as much as their parents. Tell them we have another parent we want to be like and ask if anyone knows who that is (Heavenly Father).

Tell the children that Heavenly Father is the father of our spirits and that we live Him before we were born on earth. Just like we will someday become like our moms and dads, we can also become like Heavenly Father too. Heavenly Father loved us so much that when He sent us to earth, he gave us another mom and dad to love us and take care of us so that one day we can return to live with Him.

Song
“I lived in Heaven”

I am a Child of God

Garden Tile Stone Activity

After Christmas and New Years is a great time to stock up on stuff for future birthdays OR FHE activities! The other day I went to our local mall where they had a ToysRUs Express. This means the store only comes in during the holidays and then after the holidays are through they sell whatever is left at a highly discounted rate. So I decided to browse. I found a "do-it-yourself" garden tile stone kit designed for children. I picked one up for $2.50 and can't wait for spring when I'll use it for an FHE activity.

I am not sure as of yet what the lesson will be, perhaps I'll post on that when I figure it out, but I can't wait to have my husband and our children put their hand prints on it, along with other decorations and put it in our garden. Keep an eye out for special sales and keep FHE in mind, you mind be surprised what you find!

Garden Tile Stone Activity

Jesus' Birth Story

This year I bought a little people nativity for my 2 year old to play with . We keep it by the christmas tree and he has been told that this is a special Christmas decoration just for him to play with.  I have tried to make these toys seem extra special and fun so that he is sure to play with them!

Shortly after getting the toy I had an FHE lesson about Jesus and his birth. I used the nativity set I had just bought to act out what happened during Jesus' birth. For older children children you could read the scriptures that go along with this (e.g. Luke 2:1-20).

After the lesson I encouraged my son to play with his new toy. I pointed out the names of the toys and mentioned things about the nativity story we had just gone over while he played with his toys. I continue to do this when he plays with the toys in hopes that when he plays with them in the future (hopefully year after year) this story will come to his mind.

Jesus' Birth Story

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is a great time to get together with family and celebrate the many things that you are thankful for. There are a lot of different, fun activities that you can do on thanksgiving day with your family to help you remember the things you are thankful for. These are especially fun to do while everyone is sitting around the table eating dinner and talking.

*Thanksgiving bingo (a favorite for my family)
*Thanksgiving pictionary
*Go around the dinner table and have people say 5 (or however many things you want) things they are thankful for this year
*Go around the dinner table and have people
*Make a thanksgiving snack mix where each item in the mix represents something you are thankful for
*Have young children color a picture of something they are thankful for
*Sing some thanksgiving songs
*Volunteer at a food bank etc.
*Go shopping on black friday for items to donate to an organization/family in need

Thanksgiving

"Thank You"

Lesson

“There are two little words in the English language that perhaps mean more than all others,” says President Gordon B. Hinckley. “They are ‘thank you’ ” (“A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth,” Ensign, Jan. 2001, 4).

Ask: “why do you think these words are so meaningful? “do you feel good when someone tells you “thank you”? why?

Discuss ways in your own home you can show gratitude. Take time to tell each member of the family why you are grateful for them and the things they do. Take turns doing this.

It is important to say thank you; in fact, we are commanded to be thankful. In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says, “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things” (D&C 59:7)..

Ask: “how do we show Heavenly Father and Jesus we are thankful for all they do for us?”

-We show Heavenly Father and Jesus that we are grateful to Them by keeping Their commandments. When we are baptized, we show obedience to the Lord. When we read the scriptures, we show that we are thankful to have the word of God. When we partake of the sacrament reverently, we are showing our gratitude for Jesus Christ’s Atonement.

Challenge

challenge the family to say a “thankful prayer”. When they get on their knees to pray tonight encourage them to take one prayer to only give thanks and not ask for anything. Tell the children they will discover they have SO MUCH to be thankful for!

Activity

Make Gratitude Journals for each child. Take time for them to write all the things they are grateful for. Encourage them to keep the journal somewhere they can see. This way when they have a bad day they can get it out and be reminded of all the things they have to be thankful for. Also, as they think of more things to be grateful for they can add it to their journal.

or

Using a box or other materials, make a simple replica of a home. Tell the children that the box represents a home and ask them to name some of the things in their homes that they are grateful for. Before FHE, prepare wordstrips for the older children and pictures for the younger children of things that are in the homes. Inside a box have the wordstrips or pictures such as “bed,” “sofa,” “scriptures,” and “sink.” Also include family members and possibly pets. When the children have guessed all of the things that are in the box, show them the empty box but explain that some of the most important things in a home cannot be seen. Help them name intangible things such as “love,” “the gospel,” and “gratitude.” Explain that our homes are happier when we are grateful.

Song

“I Am Glad for Many Things” (p. 151).

"Thank You"

Families are important. If you didn't think so, you probably wouldn't be coming here for FAMILY home evening ideas. There are many family trees out there. I love this idea from a creative blogger. Have your children help pick out the materials for the tree, set the tree up take the picture, and then help them fill in the bubbles. Explain how a family tree works, going into as much depth as you feel appropriate for your children. Most importantly, have fun! And don't forget to sing, " Families Can Be Together Forever" from the children's Primary Song Book.

How to Make a Unique Family Tree
Taken from http://milasdaydreams.blogspot.com/

Families fit rarely into ready sablons, so when I tried to fill our family tree for Mila's baby book I noticed it would be better to make our own tree. Then you can make it as wide as you like, or just choose those closest relatives.

You need:

- blanket or other fabric to be a tree trunk and grass

- 3-4 colored paper napkins for leaves.

- Paper plates, as many as close relatives. Tip: if you like ornaments a lot, use white paper lace!

+ what ever you like to decorate your tree. Is your family tree full of paper hearts, real fruits, candles, or personal items to symbol your family members.

The building tree is easier if you make a first draft to paper. Use just names and list them in a form of tree. Start from to top of tree and put there the baby, then parents, grandparents etc. Add siblings. Just like you would draw a mind map.

When you are building an actual tree, notice that you can use the bigger plates for close relatives and smaller ones for the siblings. If you have a huge family, aunts and cousins don't need a plate, you can use smaller symbols, or cut smaller round circles from light colored paper/ paper napkins. Make tree leaves from napkins. Just twofold them and cut from the fold half of leaf, so you get multiple leaves from one cut when you separate the layers of napkin.

Photo example with teddy bears

After taking your photo, you may adjust color & lighting and add names or photographs in the picture by photoshop. If you use elliptical marquee-tool, you can get round headshot cut out from pictures. In my version those bigger plates are good for about 85x85pixels photos and smaller ones 60x60pixels. Pictures don't have to be perfectly round. You can also print photo out and add relatives by hand writing.

Example with photoshop names.

And voilà, personal and unique Family Tree is ready!

PS you can also add ancestors in the "roots" if you like. Just make a rocks or little signs there to make a space for the info.

In our family tree there would be many Viking kings from Norway, King Gustav I of Sweden, Jaakko Ilkka, Finnish leader of the Peasant Rebellion and from my side there's just a big bunch of simple farmers from North Karelia. Well, maybe few of my greatgreatgreat uncles and distant cousins have been artist and painters, but that's it. And probably there has been some finnish pagans before northern crusade. So I began to feel that this great offspring of noble savages has stolen this simple Karelian maid, and history still repeats itself...haha.

Angels

Opening Song: An Angel Came to Joseph Smith

I used pictures in the Gospel Art Book to teach what angels are. The definition I used was from the Bible Dictionary: "Angels are messengers of the Lord."

Page 28: The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary

Page 31: The Angel Appears to the Shepherds

Page 62: The Ascension of Jesus

Page 77: Conversion of Alma the Younger

Page 91: Moroni Appears to Joseph Smith in his room

Page 66: The Second Coming

I had my daughter point out the angel in each picture and then told her what was going on in the picture. For #91, we also discussed how that relates to Angel Moroni on the temple. For the last picture, we talked about the difference between Jesus and angels. (This was the motivation for the lesson, my daughter was confused on who everyone was in that picture.) I closed with my testimony of how though we will probably never see an angel, I know they are messengers from God.

Angels

FHE Treats

Not sure what to do for FHE? Even worse, not sure what to have for DESSERT? I have to admit, the dessert part of FHE is my favorite. Sometimes, the making of the dessert IS our family activity. Most kids love to help in the kitchen, get the whole family involved!! Here are a bunch of ideas to get your mind thinking.

Monkey Bread - Mix 1/3 C brown sugar, 1 T. water, 3 T. melted butter in a round glass bowl. Microwave for 2 min. Add 1 pkg. refrigerator biscuits onto mixture and place a small juice glass in center. Microwave 2 more min. Remove glass and invert onto serving plate. Serve warm by pulling sections apart.

Marshmallow Puffs - Take a pkg. or refrigerator biscuits and pat each out flat, place a marshmallow in center and wrap up sealing the edges. Dip in melted butter, roll in cinnamon sugar. Put in muffin tin. Bake at 400 for 10-12 min. Eat 'em hot.

Fruity Tuties- Get a bowl of ice-cream and add some of your favorite juice or soda. Enjoy! -

Teddy Smores' - Roast a marshmallow. Put it on a graham cracker and put 4 chocolate teddy grahams on the marshmallow. Enjoy!

Easy Donuts - You will need: 1 can of Pillsbury biscuits or more depending on how many you want to make, and a Fry Daddy, or other similar deep-frying appliance. Take the biscuits out of the can and cut out the center of each biscuit. Fry donuts and holes in oil until golden brown. Drain on wire rack or cookie cooling rack. Top with glaze. Glaze: Powdered sugar and milk combined to desired consistency. Pour over hot donuts. These are best fresh. They do not re-heat well.

Patty Cakes - First, get some soft tortillas and cheese. (refried beans if desired) Then, sprinkle cheese on top of a tortilla and put microwave for fifteen seconds or until cheese is melted. Cut like a pizza and enjoy!

Temple Cake - Make a cake (square is best) put 4 ice cream cones point up on the cake. these will be the pillars. then, put a little Moroni on top of one pillar.

Oreo Pie - It's easy, you just get chocolate pudding and Oreo's and whip cream. Crush the Oreo's up and put them on the bottom of a pan. Then put the pudding on top .then more crushed up Oreos. then put the whip cream on top and spread it out.

Homemade Ice-cream Sandwiches - Yummy and easy. First make a box of brownies, any kind. Let cool and cut into squares. Take aluminum foil and put one brownie square on it add vanilla ice cream (or any flavor you like) and top with another brownie. Wrap up and put into freezer. Do this with all the brownies.

Waffles and Ice Cream - You need ice cream in a box carton and waffles. Completely open ice cream box and slice it into 1/4 inch slices. Place slice of ice cream on one warm waffle and top with second warm waffle. Eat like a sandwich. Kids love these! -

Ice-cream Spiders! - Put 1 or 2 scoops of ice-cream in a cup fill with your favorite soft drink and enjoy! :-)

Fondue Fun - Fondue is a really fun and yummy treat for FHE. If you don't have a fondue pot you can use a crock pot or something like a crock pot, on low heat. You can have either cheese fondue and dip bread chunks and veggies in it or have the obvious chocolate fondue, (either brown or white chocolate) and dip fruits and sponge cake chunks into that one. It's easy, inexpensive and fun!

Rice Crispy Treats - Take rice crispies and turn them into fun!!! Add food coloring for each season of the year or for any special occasion.

Nachos - Put corn chips on a cookie sheet and put on shredded cheese we like the four cheese blend the broil in the oven until the cheese is melted. don't bake it too long! hard cheese is not very good.

Banana Malts - First get a few bananas. (Buy more if you have a big family) Then, buy malt mix. Get some ice. Put all of these things into a blender, little by little. ENJOY!!!!!!!

Kid-Proof Sushi - To make kid proof sushi you must have fruit roll ups, a gummy bear and rice crispies, you can use store brand or homemade. Take the rice crispies and flaten it out but keep it in its shape. Then take 1 fruit roll up and cut it to the length of the crispy. Take a gummy and put it laying on 1 end of the crispy, then roll the crispy and eat it!

Colored Thick Shake - Ingredients: Vanilla ice cream, food coloring (all different colors), vanilla, milk, and whip cream. Instructions: Plug in blender, fill blender up with enough ice cream for all, put vanilla and milk in. Blend it until it is mushy. Then in all the different corners of the blender put in the 4 different food colorings. Blend again (but only until the colors are swirly) pour into glass, top with whipped cream, and sprinkle. Then you have your loving desert! ♥ -

Home Made Oreos - A favorite of my family is a joyous mix. It's lots of fun to put together as well. Prepare one box of devils food cake. follow the recipe on back on how to prepare it for cookies. Place the dough/batter on a cookie sheet and cook for app. 10 minutes, (the back of the box should say exactly.) After the cookies are cooked and cooled, spread vanilla frosting on the flat side of each cookie and place to together!!!! ENJOY!

Counter Sundaes - On the kitchen counter (kitchen table works, too), lay out wax paper and tape to counter. Scoop ice cream on counter and let kids add toppings, syrup, etc. After, eat straight off counter. Kids will love this!

Fruit-a-shoot-a : Put fruit into a bowl. add walnuts, and a pinch of sugar if you please.

Microwave S’mores - Place two pieces of a Hershey’s candy bar on a graham cracker, then place a large marshmallow on each of the two pieces of candy bar and place in the microwave. Be sure not to over cook, you only need about 30 seconds. Its fun to watch the marshmallows expand. After you warm the chocolate and the mallows place another graham cracker on top and squish together. Let cool for a few moments and dive in……….

Graham Crackers and Frosting - Get some graham crackers and your favorite frosting (or Nutella if available) It is fun to make and good to eat. (Make sure you have lots of milk to wash it down)

Milk Shakes - Just some ice cream and milk in a blender make a great milk shake. Our favorite is vanilla ice-cream, milk and Hershey's chocolate syrup. If you want a faster shake, stir with a spoon instead of using a blender. Not as smooth, but still tastes great!.

Frozen Bananas - Freeze banana slices on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. (do early in the day) . Remove from freezer after family night and dip in melted chocolate and favorite toppings (nut, coconut, sprinkles, etc)

Homemade Popsicles - In the morning or day before, make juice and poor it in cups. Use popsicle stick (or spoons) and place them in the cup. freeze them (you might need to let a little hot water run on the outside of the cup to release them.

Carmel Apples - Put popsicle sticks in each apple, make sure the apples aren't too sweet. Sour ones work best. Slow cook Kraft caramels and dip the apples in. cover with nuts or chocolate chips if you like. Put on wax paper and let cool. Put them in refrigerator to harden

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds - Clean the pumpkin seeds well. Fry them in butter and salt. Let cool a little bet. Eat

Orange Julius' - Put 1 1/2 c. water, 1/2 c. milk, 1/2 c. sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate (regular size can), ice cubes (as much as you like, around 2 cups is good) into a blender. Blend until ice is well crushed. We almost always had this with popcorn! Contributed by Christine Jensen

EASY Carmel Apple Dip - This really tastes like caramel! 1 block cream cheese (softened), 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla. Mix well and serve with apple wedges!

Banana Shake - First you get your blender put a whole banana in there in slices, then put ice as much as you like, put 4 teaspoons of sugar and pour milk in the blender until it covers the ice and banana or as much as you like to serve, blend it and serve, taste better than a milkshake! -

THING-A-MAJIGS - Get 12 fig bars, 4 oz peanut butter, 6 ice cream sticks, six 5 oz paper cups, 9 to 12 oz choc pudding, 1 1/2 cup raspberry yogurt. Put two fig bars on each side of stick. spread with peanut butter, fill cup with 1/2 pudding, push stick in cup, add yogurt to top, freeze over night, split cup, peel , eat.

Baked Apples - Core the apple, put a little cinnamon, sugar, raisins, and water inside the hole in your apple. Bake until a little bit brown......... ENJOY!!!!!

Quick and Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies - Ingredients: 1 cup of white sugar 1 cup of creamy peanut butter 1 egg Mix all together and bake at 350 degrees til' done. (About 8-10 minutes. Enjoy with a glass of milk. Can add a chocolate kiss to the middle before baking. (I like to bake mine in a mini muffin pan to make little peanut butter tarts.)

Cookies with ice-cream in the Middle - Take two chocolate chip cookies (or any other cookies that you think would also taste good,) and put ice-cream in the middle. You can make as many cookies as you would like.

Nacho Cheese Dip - Take any kind of salsa and sprinkle it with grated cheese on the top of the slasa. Cook it in the microwave for 60 seconds.

FHE Treats

Wise and Foolish

This lesson is adapted from the CTR A lesson 36: "I am wise when I choose the right."

Purpose: To help children understand that we are wise when we obey the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Intro: Put different articles of clothing on incorrectly. For example, put a hat on your feet. Talk about how the clothing doesn't do us any good if we don't wear it correctly. When we wear a hat on our feet, it doesn't protect us from the cold, rain, or sun. It is foolish. When we wear it correctly, we get protected. We are being wise when we wear a hat correctly. You can let your kids take turns demonstrating how to wear clothes correctly.

Scripture story: Tell the story of the wise man and the foolish man found in Matt 7:24-27. Talk about how each man felt when the rains came. Explain that if we are wise and follow Jesus Christ's teachings, we will be happy like the man whose house stayed standing. If we are foolish, we will be sad like the man whose house fell.

Activity: On the sidewalk or a cookie sheet, set up two houses made of blocks. Build one block house on a large rock. Build the other on a pile of sand. Pour water on the rock and the sand and watch what happens! The house on the rock stays standing, and the house on the sand falls down.

Song: Sing "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man." Do the actions too of course. :)


Summary: We are wise when we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Wise and Foolish

Getting Closer with your Family

As I thought about what I wanted to write about this month I started thinking about the Family Home evenings I had with my own family growing up. We had the standard lessons with a song and a treat, but we often would sit down and play a game together, make cookies together, or go on walks together. I loved these home evenings. Looking back I don’t think this was an easy out for my parents. It was on these nights that we really got to know each other. We learned how to have fun together and to appreciate each other. So that is my challenge, at your next FHE don’t worry so much about what the lesson is going to be about. Plan something that will allow you to get to know your kids, and let them get to know you. Play a game and ask questions. Find out what they want to be, do, and see. You’ll love to watch your kids interact and become closer to one another and you’ll LOVE getting closer to them!

Getting Closer with your Family