Family Home Midday

For Family Home Evening we had a lesson from the June 2020 Ensign (Family Study Fun) about King Lamoni's flocks being scattered and Ammon and the other servants gathering them. We scattered and gathered cotton balls as we talked about service and how Ammon knew that when he served King Lamoni, he was serving God. It's the same as when we serve others. We talked about ways we can serve others over the next week or so and that when we do those acts of service, we can feel the Spirit more in our home.

For our activity, we played video/computer games, one person at a time but everyone joined in with watching and giving advice. When it was my turn, I decided to play "Blogger" (get it?) and ask the family for advice.
One of the kids didn't like my idea. Nichole made a sculpture out of cotton balls then it was destroyed before she could show anyone.
Jr. Jr.: Oh, no. He goes flying the... something something(?)
Nichole: We love you, Mom.
Mom: They're not making a lot of suggestions.
What if I started a story? Once upon a time, there was a... mushroom. This mushroom was four feet tall and had a stalk as thick as... pea soup. (Now they're laughing). One day, a handsome... frog came along and ate a bagel. Then he tried to... eat a bagel again. (Now even the one who was upset is laughing and joining in- he does love bagels). Suddenly, there appeared a... second mushroom spider and then he ate it and then the frog ate it. He's the one that ate it.  Unfortunately, it didn't sit well and soon he was... laughing. (Phew. I'm so glad they suggested that verb instead of another one- though one child did suggest laughing out his guts, which is still not that bad).
You never know what is going to happen when you let the kids be involved with blogging. See some of the former blog posts which I will now find links to.
Here's Nichole's post from November 10, 2009
Lucky: What about Lucky's turn? There's no Lucky's turn.
Jr. Jr. (singing): Lucky's turn. Lucky's turn. Lucky's turn. Lucky's turn.
Lucky (laughing): What about Lucky's turn?
While looking for one for Jr., Jr. suggested several. What about that one? Or that one? Or that one? What did we finally pick? This one from November 1, 2015
Jr.: That was five years ago. I was like 7 then.
Jr. Jr. says he's never done a post. Hmmmm. I'm sure he must have somewhere but while searching, we haven't found one that says, "Jr. Jr.'s Turn." Hmmm.
Lucky has a couple we found, like this one from February 17, 2016
Hmmm. I'm sure Jr. Jr.'s had a turn. I'll keep looking.
Lucky: Penguin! What was that penguin? Why was there a penguin?
Mommy: Well, I'll tell you, Lucky. Look at my blog post from January 25, 2012 about Penguin Awareness Day.
Oops. Time's up.
Thanks, Nichole.
Lucky (whine): Mom, I thought you were going to play.
I'll look for a blog post from Jr. Jr. later.

The New Year

Before the new year we finally made it to the Christmas Village with the family.  I had gone earlier in the month with friends, but wanted the rest of my family to see it.  We finally did and it was fun.

And look, we finally got an outside night shot.

We started our New Testament scripture study on December 31 with Family Home Midday.  Later while Jeremy was at work, I gave the kids 15 minutes quiet time so they could do some personal scripture study.  I intended to read from the illustrated New Testament Stories book to Lucky but when I came into the living room I saw someone had already beaten me to it.  YES!  That's what I like to see in my home.

Then to start the new year off right, Nichole and I went out on January 1 on a birding fieldtrip.  It was sooooooo cold (single digit temperatures) but it was sooooooo worth it.  We went to several different spots.  I finally got to see that Anna's hummingbird in the Winter in Utah.

It's always fun being out with other birders and of course we saw a lot of birds for the first time this year.

 
When we got home we needed to thaw so we put on a movie, Nichole used her rice warmer and I soaked my feet, and we enjoyed some hot chocolate (thanks, Jr., for making hot chocolate for me) to warm us up.

Then I took a nap and couldn't believe how easy it was to fall asleep again that night.

We also finally toasted the new year with sparkling cider. Lucky did NOT like the taste of it.  He apparently tasted it before the rest of us clinked our paper cups together so he didn't bother with that part.  He also didn't like the taste of the Apple Shasta.  Oh well.

Today it was Jr. and Daddy's turn to go out birding.  They also got an early start in the cold and got to see a bunch of new birds for the year.  They went to some of the same places we went and saw some of the same birds but saw some different as well.  They did have some good bonding time just like Nichole and I did.

This is what I found while Jeremy and Jr. were out.  Yay again!

Now we're doing this.  Fun while cleaning up the Christmas tree.

And since January 2 is Science Fiction Day, we'll probably watch a science fiction movie or two.

Fall Break Day Final

Our last day of Fall Break was also our Family Home Evening day, so for Family Home Midday, Jr. Jr. chose the activity to go to Thanksgiving Point's Farm Country and Museum of Natural Curiosity.  We had time to do both.

Something funny I found- compare today's picture of Munchkinland with last Tuesday's (after the big weekend celebration they had with games and other activities).  There's a reason they had it roped off when we were there before.

For Family Home Evening treat (because our day was like that- Family Home Midday activity and Family Home Evening treat), Jeremy made us simple ice cream sandwiches.  Some vanilla ice cream between two cookies.  Yum.

And it didn't end up being as messy as I would have expected.

Family Day

Last Summer one of our Family Home Middays was spent up Provo Canyon.  We stopped at Bridal Veil Falls where Jeremy gave us a lesson about following the right path.  You want to be constantly moving in the right direction just as a river continues to flow to the ocean.  You don't want to get stuck in a lake or pond that doesn't continue on.

We fed the fish at the base of the falls then headed on up to Big Springs.

We had a picnic then got to run around with outdoor toys that we don't always get out.

Poor Jr. Jr.  There were too many yellow jackets around scaring him while we were trying to eat.  Finally he and I got away from the table and sat on the ground to eat.

We had some silly string that needed to be used up and we finally let the kids break out the bubbles I wouldn't let them spill blow indoors.

Jr. showed us that he was really good at catching butterflies.  There was one that he kept catching over and over.  It even landed on his leg at one point so he just had to set the net over it.  He was also really gentle when letting the butterflies out of the net.

It was a good family day.

And it tuckered out all of the kids.

Family Day- Fish

The theme of our family day was fish. Jeremy made us lovely fish pancakes (not made of real fish) for breakfast.

Since I'm going to be teaching the Sunbeams about being grateful for fish on Sunday, I figured we could do a quick version for our Family Home Midday lesson. We talked about Jonah the prophet, and how the Lord provided a great fish to swallow him instead of him drowning. We played a fishing game to catch paper fish that the kids were able to color.

Jeremy decided it would be funny for one of the kids to catch a boot, which we promptly threw back to get a new paper fish.

We headed down to BYU to see the fish/aquariums on the bottom floor of the Widtsoe Building. On the way there, it started raining and hailing. It was just what we needed. Very relaxing. However, since the Widtsoe Building is at the opposite side of campus from the visitor's parking, we decided to go to the Museum of Art and see if the rain and hail let up.

I was reminded again that like most poetry, most "art" I just don't get. Oh well. There was a nice break in the weather where we were able to make it down to the Widtsoe Building. Before we went down to the aquariums, we stopped by the vending machines and used coins to get snacks. Nichole appropriately chose Swedish Fish.

The kids enjoyed seeing the fish (and the turtle) in the aquariums. We'd go to one window and see fish, the next window we'd see bigger fish, the next window we'd see even bigger fish.

On our way back to the car, passing the Museum of Art again, the kids told us they wanted to play on the slide. Unfortunately we had to let them know that it wasn't a slide, it was a sculpture, even though it may look like a slide. "It's not for playing. It's for contemplating."

When we got home, the kids and I watched Finding Nemo while Jeremy went grocery shopping. We were able to end our day with fish sticks and french fries.

It was a good family day.